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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “expiring”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “expiring”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 373 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Temporary Login Without Password 90K+ · 5.0★ (1549) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Public Post Preview 100K+ · 4.6★ (79) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #3 4 AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301) wp.org #5 ↑3 1 too low 5 Email Subscribers & Newsletters by Icegram Express – Email Marketing, Post Notifications & WooCommerce Marekting Automation for WordPress 50K+ · 4.6★ (1170) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 HurryTimer – An Scarcity and Urgency Countdown Timer for WordPress & WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (170) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 Protect Uploads 30K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (96) wp.org #14 ↓4 5 too low 10 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Stock Manager for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (130) wp.org #13 ↓4 2 too low 12 Product Expiry for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #6 ↓1 6 too high 13 Icegram Engage – Popups, Welcome Bars, Optins, Slide-Ins & Lead Generation for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (370) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Icegram Collect – Easy Contact Form, Subscription Form & Lead Collection Plugin for WordPress 2K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Icegram Mailer – Reliable Email Deliverability, No-Code SMTP Replacement & Email Logs for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too high 16 Offload Media – Cloud Storage 1K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #16 17 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #18 ↓5 1 too low 18 Product Badge, Label, Countdown Timer for WooCommerce – Sale Booster 5K+ · 4.8★ (30) wp.org #21 ↓6 3 too low 19 YITH WooCommerce Subscription 6K+ · 3.0★ (46) wp.org #19 ↓3 20 Easy Invoice – Invoice Generator, PDF Quotes & Payments 600+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓3 4 too low 21 WP Dashboard Messages 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓6 4 too high 22 Export Media as ZIP 3K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓4 11 too high 23 Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓3 14 too high 24 Email Gated Downloads 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓5 1 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.